Dr. Jeffrey M. Becker passed away Dec. 5, 2017. Funeral services occurred Dec. 8th at Mt. Nebo. Becker met his wife, Rabbi/Cantor 'Birdie' (Roberta Koslov), at a MOVFTY gathering in 1968. They reunited in 1972 in Columbia, MO where both were studying at the University of Missouri. They married in 1976 and Jacob and Rachel were born while they lived in Illinois.

A Board Certified dermatologist and Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology as well as the Society for Investigative Dermatology, Becker practiced medicine in Champaign/Urbana, IL for four years where he also served as a clinical instructor for the University of Illinois Medical School. He arrived in Denver in 1984, where he served the community until 2007 when he was recruited to build a Dermatology department in Albuquerque at the largest multi-specialty group in the state.

No matter where he practiced, his colleagues described him as always having a sparkle in his eye and a kind word to say, and more often than not a quick joke that took everyone by surprise. He felt a deep responsibility to his patients and always strived to provide excellent care. He retired last December to return to Denver and the other driving force in his life, his family.

A devoted father, he earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, which he attended several times a week for years with Jacob and Rachel. For many years he enjoyed the outdoor life in Denver by biking the majority of the Highline Canal, switching to hiking the Sandias for his time in Albuquerque. An avid camera enthusiast, he videoed his children and his wife in numerous years of theater performances.

Jeff had a generous heart, a brilliant mind, a pervasive sense of humor, and a courageous soul. He will long be remembered by friends, family, and the many patients whose lives he has touched. He died Tuesday, December 5th, 2017. He is survived by his wife and children. May the angels carry him. Baruch Dayan Emet. He is already missed.

We will soon all gather to begin the holiday season. Due to the divisiveness within which we are living, it seems somewhat more difficult to make teshuvah, the turning required to wipe away the sins of our past year. It seems so much easier to be able to blame someone else this year for our difficulties, for our failings, for our discontent. Perhaps more than in other years that is why we really need to come together and pray as a community, be a community, know we are part of a community despite our differences.

While Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur focus us on the ‘me’, they are followed quickly by Sukkot, a definite ‘us’ holiday. In fact, Sukkot not only helps to focus on ‘us’, but brings the joy of the renewal, of freshness experienced at Yom Kippur into full measure.

We remember the blessings of annanim kavod, the clouds of glory that accompanied us through the desert; our clothing and foot garments never wore out and we were protected from the elements of nature. This was the blessing we received when Moshe Rabbeinu received the second set of Esert HaDibrot, the Tablets of Commandments. In return, we begin the year performing a mitzvah. We build and dwell in a Sukkah. So anxious was the Maharil[1] to perform this mitzvah, he had the custom of beginning the building of the Sukkah the night after Yom Kippur. We open our temporary shelters to guests, both ancestral and contemporary.

Inside the Sukkah, we lift and shake the Lulav, the four species. The Bahir[2] compares these species to human anatomy and our senses. Hadas (myrtle) is the eye that we must keep open against hate, bigotry and bribery. Aravah (willow) are the lips with which we may speak out for justice. The Etrog (citron) is the heart so that we feel compassion, love and empathy. The Lulav (palm) is the spine, that we be straight and strong, to serve as God’s loyal and grateful people. In bringing the four species together and shaking them in all six directions, we are reaching out, pointing a way, to promote the recognition of divinity in relationships, in community and among communities.

With the rising hatred in the world, may this be the year the Sukkah brings people together for rejoicing. Ken yihi ratzon. So may it be God’s will.

From my family to yours, wishing you a joyous, healthy new year.L’Shanah Tovah UmetukahRabbi Becker

[1] Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin, Talmudist of German Jews whose minhagim was a source for the Shulchan Arukh.

I found myself in the garden today. I've ignored it far too long. In fact, I never finished planting this year as in June, my husband of 41 years was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, the brain tumor John McCain has made a household word. Only Jeff's was in a location that was not operable so radiation and chemotherapy have been our daily routine.

Today, Jeff was too nauseated to go to radiation and I had an hour before the sun got hot. So hat and sunglasses on, along with a slather of my favorite sunblock, I marched to the backyard with gloves, a trash bag and my phone - in case of a call from the clinic or the doctors.

Weed after weed came out in my hand. I saw the tomatoes and cucumber plants begin to take form. I was able to separate them from one another, direct the tomato stems up the planter poles and lay the leaves of the cucumber plant down and away from the tomatoes.

The weeds came away from the beleaguered pepper plants that had become completely overrun and covered from the light of day. Flowers had managed to bloom on one of the plants and leaves remained on the other. Two earthworms squirmed toward each other as I removed their protecting but undesired invading leaf umbrellas and just prior to batting heads veered off in orthogonal directions.

How unfair that I can simply pluck the offending roots and growths from my garden but I am powerless against the tumor growing in my beloved's brain. I have to rely on medicine, radiation, chemotherapy and guesswork. Yes, since each person is unique, each tumor is as well and therefore, guesswork is part of the therapy.

Too bad the weeds I pulled from the garden went into a bag to be tossed in the trash. They were not the kind Coloradoans speak about as helpful for cancer. Rather, they are just offending growths that prevent the fullness of life from flourishing.

Weeds. Tumors. Nauseated.

Like governors, mayors and corporations around the country, Jewish leaders have joined together to lift our voices in support of the world wide desire to tend to and attend to God's creation, our earth. I was delighted for the opportunity offered me by Hazon to sign the letter that supported the Paris Climate Accord which was published June 13th, 2017.It reads,

"Dear Friends,

We are Jews, organizational leaders and rabbis, teachers and students who work passionately towards a bright American Jewish future. We are also human beings who care deeply about all life. And from this integrated Jewish and universal perspective, we are shocked by the US government’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.

This decision stands against common sense. Across the whole world, governments, corporations, non-profits, religious communities, and families and individuals are doing the hard work of slowly trying to wean ourselves from our own unhelpful behaviors and our fossil-fuel based economy, and toward a brighter future that better protects our planet and all its inhabitants.The Climate Accord is a voluntary framework, signed by every country in the world except for Syria and Nicaragua. The signing was one of the largest gatherings of world leaders in human history. The withdrawal of the United States is tragic, and deeply problematic. As Jews living in a free society, we know the power of a shared framework which, even without legislative sanction, has a huge influence on the world. That’s what the Torah is; that’s why the Jewish people for twenty centuries have been on the right side of critical issues; and that’s why it is so critical that the Jewish community now stand up not merely to advocate for the Paris Climate Accord, but also to help implement it.As Jews, we are also proud of our long history of economic innovation and entrepreneurship, so we are baffled by the false premise that withdrawing from the Paris Accords somehow prioritizes American jobs; on the contrary, our 21st century economy is driven by new energy technologies and our solar sector already far surpasses coal. Even so, we empathize with workers in the fossil fuel industry fearful of the changing energy economy, and strongly support business innovation and public policy to assist these workers during the transition to clean energy. Our nation’s economic interests are far better served by investments in this new energy economy than by the denial of climate science. Many experts agree that withdrawing from the Accord will weaken our economy – and threaten vulnerable populations both here at home and across the world.In the face of this unfortunate decision, we applaud the leadership of mayors, governors, and businesses across the country who are taking responsibility for working towards the goals of the Paris Climate Accord. The US federal government is a vital actor when it comes to fighting climate change, but there is much that we can do ourselves, as institutions and individuals. Our children’s future demands that we do all we can. Today, therefore, we call upon all Jewish federations, JCCs, synagogues, camps, day-schools, Jewish organizations, leaders, businesses, and community members to identify ways in which we, the organized and powerful American Jewish community, can and must respond to this climate crisis. There could not be more urgency at this moment, and our moral courage and bold leadership is needed on a national and global scale. Here are some of the things that you can do:

Commit yourself and your organization to the Paris goals, as Hazon, Pearlstone and a growing number of Jewish organizations have done. Amongst other things, that means reducing your carbon emissions by about a quarter (26 to 28%) over the next seven years.

Encourage your people – members, participants, staff, kids – to take some steps to live more lightly – ride your bike, or eat less meat, or eat more local produce. And if you can switch to solar or wind power, do so.

We are committed to working with interested parties within and beyond the Jewish community on this critical issue that will define our generation’s legacy. In the Mishna, Hillel teaches us, “When no else is acting, act.” We stand together, united in our commitment to a sustainable future."

And, it is signed by individuals as well as organizations, both big and small.

Are you ready to observe the commandment of baal tashcit? To neither destroy nor waste but rather to be a caretaker of the environment.

Are you planning to attend the January 21 Women’s March in Denver? Concerned citizens of the diverse communities of Colorado will come together to champion human rights and dignity, and to send a message to our elected leaders to act to protect the needs of women, their families and our society.

In recognition that it is Shabbat, there will be a brief Shabbat service at 8:45 A.M. before the march begins. All are warmly welcome to come to share inspiration and hope. Meet at the First Baptist Church of Denver, 1373 Grant Street, downtown near the State Capitol. See more details at https://www.facebook.com/events/735818996567451/

With Jeff returning to Colorado in time for Chanukah after our being a commuter couple for eight years, I am sharing a story written 2/2015 with the belief that my gift keeps growing.

THE GIFT OF LOVELeaving the doctor’s office, I climbed into the car and started down the winding parking ramp. Breathe, I reminded myself as I replayed my conversation with the physician moments before.

“See how the white here turns gray there and when we turn it this way, the opposite is true? That’s the bone marrow. This should be that color and it’s not.” His voice faded for me as he described the things it could be but probably weren’t. I heard clearly, “…of course we won’t know for sure. That’s why we need the biopsy. It’s easiest to go into the shoulder so we’ll do that and grab a few cells. Then we’ll know for sure and when we do, we’ll go from there. Of course, there’s a chance it’s something else.”

A chance it’s something else. I’d been trying to track down for a year what was wrong. This was the one year anniversary of finding out my husband of 38 years had leukemia. I had jokingly remarked then that we’d been together so long we were sharing the disease, I had the symptoms but he had the diagnosis.

I looked up and spoke aloud, “If this is how it’s going to be, You have to watch over my children.” No denial for me. I went straight to bargaining – I was good at that. It’s in the DNA. Abraham Aveinu (our father) haggled with God over whole cities. Jacob wrestled for a blessing. Moses argued about taking a job. Surely, it was ok for me to request a little attention for my family.

In a few short weeks, I had gone from pain to preparing a bucket list. Upon returning to my physical therapist for a recurrent shoulder pain, he requested an MRI. The MRI led to a complete body bone scan and now a bone biopsy for probable bone metastases.

With Thanksgiving coming up, the procedure could not be scheduled for a week. Somehow, I had to get through the holiday weekend. I was determined not to spoil the holiday for everyone. I wouldn’t say anything. That resolve lasted about thirty seconds after my getting off the plane. At the airport, my sister was too perceptive.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m tired.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s been a long day.”

“Ok, but what’s really wrong?”

I caved. After insisting I could not leave the family gathering without telling everyone, she also agreed to let me reveal it at a time of my choosing.

Thursday was a hustle and bustle of last minute shopping, cooking, cleaning up, and setting the table. Part of the family participated in the annual city race and my 70 year old brother-in-law came in first in his age category. Friends and more family arrived for a splendid Thanksgiving meal, followed by games and music, smiles, laughter and love.

Gathered around the kitchen table, I shared the news Friday morning with my family: siblings and siblings-in-law, nieces and nephews. My children and husband already knew and one dear friend. After the initial stunned reaction, the love and support that flowed was beyond sustaining. Then came offers to be donors, to come to take care of me if needed, to be available day or night for calls and support, the love was palpable. So much so that the third generation, just over one year old, 4 ½ and 7, picked up on the energy. They danced and gave out hugs to everyone.

That evening was filled with good food, laughter, cuddling and hugs. The 4 ½ year old drew heart pictures for all the adults and requested letters back, to which we all complied. Notes filed with blessings and love and hugs and thanks were written back, allowing everyone to find a place of gratitude.

I finally convinced my son, who had driven 400 miles to be with us and would need to drive back the next morning, to get some sleep. Towering a foot over me, he was at once my little boy and my right hand guardian. I drew power from the near commanding, “You’ll be fine,” from my eldest sister as we hugged farewell. It was an echo of mom’s, z’l’* , “I won’t hear of it. You’re going to be fine”, when at age ten and sick with rheumatic fever, I had asked if I was going to die.

Anticipating the 5:45 AM flight home, I spent the night on the couch with my second sister, talking in whispers the way we used to do as kids. Holding hands, we fell briefly to sleep before the alarm woke us to final hugs, tears and well wishes.

My brother drove me to the airport. There are big brother hugs and then there are big brother hugs. This big brother hug anchored me like the roots of a tree.

The morning of the biopsy came and my daughter drove me to the hospital at 5:30 AM. She escorted me through the halls of check-in and preparation, staying with me until the nurse came to take me for the procedure.

“Don’t worry about elevated vitals,” explained the nurse, “it’s normal to be anxious.”

Facing one more, large, ominous machine, this time with my arms velcroed down so I would not move during the procedure, the last thing I heard before succumbing to the anesthetic was, “You really aren’t anxious. Your vitals are terrific.”

A few hours later, I was back home resting, thanks to my daughter. By evening, I was back to being mom, sending her home with chicken soup and knadlach to help her recover from a cold. Now there was nothing to do but wait for results. And so we did. We ALL waited.

If love and laughter, prayers and wishes can bring about miracles, I had a miracle. The reports showed no traces of cancer, no tumor, nothing of consequence to worry about. During the following weeks, I learned that scans, lab reports, symptoms of various minor illnesses and a few anomalies had converged to appear as one life threatening disease. I could go back to physical therapy and try again to heal. This time though, I would have the added strength of my entire family helping me.

Emails, phone calls, Skype calls went out to everyone. We cried, we laughed, we offered long distance hugs. I had been given the greatest gift one could know in their life time. Surrounded by family and friends, blessed with their support and their caring, I was encased in love and carried on the wings of Shechinah.

Chanukah is a holiday that celebrates the miracle of a battle, the miracle of light and the miracle of continued faith through daunting times. With the blessings of the first Chanukah candle, I knew that my miracle had arrived early, wrapped in the gift of love. Now, every morning, I awake with a new appreciation for life as I recite modah ani, I give thanks.

There is an ancient debate between the houses of Shammai and Hillel regarding how to light the candelabra called a Chanukiah. The House of Shammai extracts from the biblical diminishing of bull sacrifices for the holiday of Sukkot, the concept of decreasing the lights to be symbolic of decreasing evil, corruption and negative forces in the world. When the dark is decreased the light will shine through. Therefore, he ruled we should begin with eight candles and light one less each night. Hillel, on the other hand, believes that the concept of Kedusha, sanctification, asks us to rise above our human nature; to gain a higher level of holiness by reaching to the image of God within to expand light. He ruled that we should begin with a single candle and add one each night until the eight lights are burning.

On the High Holidays, we read a section called the holiness code whereby each sentence calls upon us to act and then sanctifies the action by concluding, "ki kadosh ani Adonai Elohaychem", because I, Adonai your God, am holy. This Torah imperative to be kadosh, holy, is the impetus to reach in, to reach up, to rise above. Thus, Hillel instructs us that increasing light, Divine light, b’tzelem Elohim (in the image of God) in the world will overpower negative forces.

Focusing on the destructive force of burning flames and fire, Shammi’s reasoning is a hope that when the flame dwindles what remains will be strong enough to have the desired outcome. Hillel, on the other hand, sees victory as requiring actions which build upon one another to achieve enlightenment. One might say he is seeking a spiritual high.

We know that just as the burning flame can spread light, so too can it spread destruction. Jews have a long history of being thrown into political flames, all the way back to the midrash of Abraham avinu (our father) being thrown into the furnace by Nimrod. Our memories, to name a few, include the enslavement in Egypt despite the marriage between Joseph and Asenath, daughter of the Priest of Egypt, their two children and subsequent descendents. Then there is the first crusades which began 1095 CE at the bidding of Pope Urban II against the Muslim kingdom and of course the subsequent crusades (ending 1290s CE– some like to say the Spanish Armada of 1588 CE but this is not the traditional historian’s perspective), the Pograms (beginning in 1800s), and of course the Holocaust. These destructive flames include the holiday of Chanukah, 167-164 BCE, the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire who attempted to impose Helenism on the Jews.

There is a reason Julius Rosenwald, Lillian Wald, and Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch were founding members of the NAACP and Jacob Schiff, Jacob Billikopf, and Rabbi Stephen Wise sat on their Board. There is a reason the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was drafted in the conference room of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism as was the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Expanding light is what we are called upon to do. Tikkun Olam (repair of the world) is a central piece of our tradition because we understand that all of humanity is interconnected and regardless of whether or not we seem to be directly effected, eventually, we are affected.

Like other holidays that are celebrated at this time of year, Chanukah is the light in the darkness. The word Chanukah means dedication. This year, Erev Chanukah falls on Christmas Eve. May our communities, as well as those observing other holidays, and those observing no holidays, be dedicated to bring a little light into the darkness that has played out in our country for many months. Which ever way you light your Chanukiah: may we never shy away from diminishing the darkness when we see it or hear it; may we garner the strength to increase light and enlightenment for the better of our world.

I read an article by a woman who wanted to be warned before the chanting of the Unatana Tokef so that she could walk out and not have to suffer from the images it evoked. On the one hand I thought, “Wow, a congregant who takes prayer seriously and knows what she is praying. This is wonderful!” On the other hand I wondered, “Isn’t this what prayer is supposed to do? Are we not supposed to wrestle with ourselves and yes, with God, too?”

Yisrael, God wrestler. That is what the word means. We are God wrestlers. We aren’t meant to leave the room when things get tough. We aren’t meant to be silent victims, either. We are meant to wrestle, turning this way and that until we return to the text with new understanding. We return - T’Shuvah to Tefillah -prayer and with the hope it leads to tzedakah – good, charitable deeds. That’s what we say, T’shuvah, tefillah and tzedakah can amend the decree.

I remember as a child, all the children were sent from the sanctuary before yizkor, the memorial prayers were recited so as not to tempt the evil eye. I have often wondered if it was really to not see a lot of adults crying. Today, we don’t worry about that as much. About either – tempting the evil eye or adults crying. And, I don’t have a problem with making people uncomfortable with a prayer or at least having them wrestle with it.

Should we eliminate all the prayers and readings that might offend any sensibilities? Shall we preface each prayer with “you might wish to step out before we read this”? I have the feeling there would be no prayers left and no one remaining to say those that were.

I have a friend who was raised as a Reconstructionist Jew. She recently changed congregations but didn’t want to take an aliyah because of the word differences. In Reconstructionism the aliyah blessing is changed from Bachar Banu mee kol ha’amim,‘who choses us from all people’ to Kervanu l’avodato ‘draws us near to serve’. Both then continue, VeNatan Lanu et Torahto, ‘and gave to us his Torah. We discussed the differences and the interpretations held therein and afterward she was able to view the words of ‘chose us’ as an inference to being chosen to serve to present Torah to the world. When she finally took an aliyah, she said the words came easily. She had done the hard work, wrestling with the written words and the meaning, the spiritual intention and how they could speak to her.

Unantana Tokef is one of our more difficult prayers. For anyone who has experienced a recent loss, it often seems like a slap at this time of year when we are seeking solice. It doesn’t matter that Unatana Tokef was actually a poem probably written in 6th century Palestine and had nothing to do with the story we now read about the French rabbi being dismembered and burned. It doesn’t matter because we are to wrestle with the words of our prayers… just as we wrestle with Torah. We recite the words of this prayer because every year there ARE floods and fires, there ARE earthquakes and epidemics, there ARE famines and droughts. War has not ceased nor has poverty ended. People are afflicted by bullying, and teasing and domestic violence and chance violence. Corruption, rebellions, insurgencies and revolution happen around the circumference of the globe. Although it is interesting to note that the Western hemisphere, is for the first time, without technical war, armed conflict between nations, although the final negotiations are back at the table in Columbia but there’s hope.

WE have a rather lengthy list of names…family and friends…for healing. Nearly every week, we have some catastrophe around the globe to add to our Mi Sheberach prayers. The spiritual, physical, emotional and mental welfare of community, country and world are constantly in need of abundant good wishes. Who are we to opt out when it strikes near? Shouldn’t that be a time to opt in? To lend our voice, in fact our entire being in support?

I hope it goes without saying that I am not indifferent to someone who has suffered and may feel deeply pained by the words we pray. I feel them, too. “Who shall live and who shall die? Who by fire and who by water?

It is just that our words tell our stories and our stories are what keeps us united as a people. Why else would we continue to read Torah without end - and I mean that literally; for no sooner do we finish Torah with the final verses than we begin again with the first verses of the scroll. Yes, why else read these stories without end? These thirty five hundred year old stories that we interpret and reinterpret and revisit and re-imagine. It doesn’t matter if they are scientifically accurate. It doesn’t matter if they are historically accurate. It doesn’t matter if they are a mix of Israel and Judaen stories. It matters only that they are OUR stories. So, too, it is with our prayers, with the Unatana Tokef prayer.

In this global world, we should all be suffering and this prayer should make every one of us ask, why anyone by hunger or thirst? Why are people in this country unable to drink the water that pours out of their own faucets? Not just Flint, MI. “The nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) tested municipal water in 42 states and detected … 141 unregulated chemicals for which public health officials have no safety standards, much less methods for removing them.” [1] And if you think that you can avoid the problem because you can afford to purchase bottle water, a Colorado proclivity, it is not a reasonable alternative since the source for many companies is “municipal” water, meaning you’re paying extra to drink bottled tap water.

Who by age and who not?” The tragedy of losing someone because they are an elder hurts no less but the even though the expectation rises for its eventuality. When illnesses and tragedies strike, we are all struck by the injustice held within the experience. When it occurs in violence, through bullying, hate mongering and categorizing the other, objectifying and enslaving a gender, we need to speak up and out. Half the world’s population is women, how many are lost through child marriage, sex trafficking or another form of emotional, mental or physical domination.

Why, let us ask, are so many still being driven out? Most by war but already many by environmental impact and that will only continue to escalate. And, I wrote this prior to Hurricane Matthew which has left beach erosion and coastal flooding in its wake taking with it things such as the eggs of this year’s Turtle Nests along with so many lives.

One of our incredible poetesses, Emma Lazarus, is memorialized on the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your Tired, Your Poor, Your huddled masses yearning to be free, the wretched refuse or your teeming shores. Send these, the homeless tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the Golden Shore.” Remember, it was not so long ago that we were the tempest tossed asking that quotas be lifted.

So let the awesome, sacred power of the day be proclaimed. Let it make us uncomfortable. If we remember our deeds, and we challenge ourselves, we can wrestle with prayers and …with God.

EREV ROSH HASHANAH 2016

The first blast of the shofar was on Labor, the 2nd of Elul. As I blew the set of notes for a bat mitzvah ceremony, I realized that for me, they were not the normal attention call. I was wide awake. I had been awake all summer, in fact all year. And the din that I was hearing was a mix of the English din of noise and the Hebrew din of judgment.

With the first blast of the shofar, Tekiah, I was reminded that the holiday season arrives whether we are ready or not, or as is the title of Rabbi Alan Lew’s book, This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared. You see, the holiday season is not as most people think 2 days or 3 days or even the entire ten days from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur known as Yomim Nori’im. It is actually 40 days, from the beginning of Elul, the month prior to Rosh HaShanah through Yom Kippur. Even then, the season doesn’t end for we have Sukkot, Shimini Atzeret and Simchat Torah in quick succession. But the point is, we have an entire month to prepare ourselves for the month to follow, to redress wrongs, to ask for forgiveness. We have the month for introspection, to look back on the year and see where we have fallen short. What expectations did we have that we didn’t meet? Where did we fail and how? And why? Did we not put in the effort or was the opportunity overlooked? How do we change the visions that we laid out as the year progressed? Did we give up too easily when we encountered an obstacle?

It was 15 years ago when I first came to this community, one week after 9/11. There was no din amongst the American people then. Having driven across the country, I remember that there was only a sense of unity, of oneness. This was as close as I can remember this country approaching indivisible.

9/11, more than any day, has become an American day of observance. While Memorial Day, Labor Day, the 4th of July and Thanksgiving have turned into joyous celebrations, on 9/11 we have begun to have holy gatherings. But how long will that last? Already there are those who don’t recognize the role of top players: first responders, rescuers, fellow workers; those who deny what was done altogether, ‘the conspiracy theorists’, and those who fight against providing these true, real life heroes with even the dignity of medical care.

Then there are those who don’t seem to understand the significance of the date. I have a group of 6th and 7th graders who have a program once a month after class to do community service. They were asked to write thank you cards to New York fire fighters and police on the first day of their meeting this year as that Sunday happened to fall on 9/11. When I asked the follow Sunday what it meant to them, they said, ‘nothing’. They did it because they were told to. They had no feeling for 9/11 and some did not even know what it referenced. Are we living in a time where everything passes so quickly that we can’t take a moment to remember those who have died, those who are suffering because of a tragedy and those who are making a difference in our world because of events that changed theirs? Have we lost the story so soon?

I’m not looking for the country wide silent moments such as those observed in Israel for Yom HaZikaron, the Day of Remembrance, just a simple recognition of one humanity. I suppose it is not so simple. I wonder is it possible? Will it ever be?

What will happen to this point in time that was seems so prominent in our lives? An event which turned the course of our country’s basic philosophy regarding civil liberty and altered our march toward human rights acceptance. When will it be rolled into all other days of remembrance, lost in significance like Pearl Harbor Day or VJ Day?

Speaking of which – did you all see that Greta Friedman died in September? She was 92. Who was Greta? The woman in the famous picture that represented the end of WWII, the kiss between sailor, George Mendonsa, and a nurse, Greta.

Even these iconic images are becoming relics. As our culture changes, we take offense at old ways of viewing things. Rather than appreciating them for what they were within their context, we denigrate and deplore what they seem to represent now. George, a half drunk sailor, according to his own recollection, at the end of a war, in pure elation desired to share it, with the first pretty stranger he encountered. Would that picture now be viewed as a sexual assault?

This tendency to outdate, to view as passé, even offensive, happens also with our prayers. Therefore have we added new prayers, new melodies, new words to old prayers and new translations to old words. Often we recite words but do know what we are saying. For the most part, does it matter? No. But here’s what does matter. That our minds and hearts are directed toward the prayers. That we allow the words and melodies to move us, to move through us so that we connect to something beyond ourselves. That we are spending the time not thinking about our next text message or who’s winning the football game, but that we spend it thinking about who’s winning our soul.

On Erev Rosh Hashanah (the first night of Selichot) over one hundred years ago, instead of going to the large Shul to signal the beginning of the prayers, the rebbe, Rabbi Shalom of Belz, ordered his attendant to harness the horses. He said they would be going into the forest.

The astonished attendant wanted to remind the Rebbe that thousands of chassidim were waiting in the Shul, but he knew better than to ask questions and went out to prepare the wagon. After a half hour drive the Rebbe signaled him to stop. They alighted and walked down a narrow path till they saw a small hut in the distance. The Rebbe signaled the attendant to wait for him, and then tiptoed alone up to the window and peeked in.

An old Jewish man was sitting alone at a table. On the table was a bottle of vodka and two small cups, one in front of him and the other before the empty seat opposite him.

Through the window the Rebbe couldn’t hear what the old man was saying, but he saw him raise his cup in a toast, drink it, and then drink the second cup as well. This he repeated two more times, after which the Rebbe tiptoed back to the attendant. They walked quickly to the wagon and the Rebbe motioned him to drive back to Belz.

Meanwhile the chassidim had been waiting for over an hour and were becoming worried. But when the doors of the Synagogue opened and the Rebbe entered, the congregation fell silent. All eyes followed him to his place at the front of the Shul, and then the room burst into prayer.

When services ended the Rebbe turned to his attendant and said, "There is an old man that came in after everyone and I’m sure he will finish after everyone also. He’s the one I saw in the house in the woods. Please wait for him to finish, and then tell him I want him to come to my study where I will speak to him privately."

Half an hour later the simple Jew was standing in fear before the Holy Rebbe.

"Sit down, Isaac," said the Rebbe, indicating a chair. "I want you to tell me what you did in your house before you came here tonight. What were those two cups of vodka for and what was that strange l’chayim you made?"

"The Rebbe knows that?" he exclaimed, his eyes bulging in amazement. Then he started to shake. "How does the Rebbe know?"

"I sensed that something important was going to happen," the Rebbe answered, "so I drove to the woods and peeked in your window. But I want to understand the meaning behind what you were doing."

"The Rebbe peeked in my window? The Rebbe peeked in my window? How could it be? I am a nothing!"

Now the poor chassid was really confused. He was silent for a moment. Then, realizing that there was no alternative, he sank down onto the chair and began to explain.

"I’m a poor man, Rebbe, I have no children and my wife passed on years ago. I live alone with just a few farm animals. That is, until a few months ago when my cow became sick. I prayed to G‑d to heal the cow. ‘After all’, I said to G‑d, ‘You create the entire world and everything in it; certainly you can heal one cow!’

"But the cow got worse. So I said ‘Listen G‑d, if You don’t heal that cow I’m not going to shul any more!’ I figured that if G‑d doesn’t care about me—I mean, it’s nothing for Him to heal one old cow—so why should I care about His place?

"But the cow died anyway. I got mad and … and… I stopped going to synagogue.

"But then my goat got sick! I said to G‑d, ‘What! You haven’t had enough? Do you think I’m bluffing? Listen, if this goat dies I’m not putting on tefillin any more!’ But the goat died and so I stopped putting on tefillin.

"Next, my chickens got ill. I told G‑d that if they die I’m not going to recite Kiddush or keep Shabbos. Well, a week later I was without chickens and G‑d was without my Shabbos.

"I held out for weeks until suddenly I realized that the holidays were approaching. I thought to myself, ‘What, Isaac, you aren’t going to go say Gut Yuntif to the Rebbe? What, are you nuts?’ But on the other hand I was angry with G‑d and had vowed I wasn’t going to the shul. So I held out.

"But then I remembered that once I had an argument with Shmuel the butcher. For about a month we didn’t even say hello. Then one night he came to my house with a bottle of vodka and said, ‘Let’s forget the past and be friends, enough enemies outside the community; why be enemies.’ So we made three l’chayims, shook hands and even danced around a little together. Baruch Hashem, we were friends again.

"So I figured I would do the same thing with G‑d. After all, Rebbe, we are told that on these days, we are forgiven - if we atone for the sins against God - as these are the only ones for which God can forgive us. So, I invited God to sit opposite me, poured us two cups and said, ‘Listen, G‑d, you forget my faults and I’ll forget yours. All right? A deal?’ L'chayim!

"So I drank my cup and understood that since G‑d doesn’t drink, He probably wanted me to drink His. And after we did it twice more I stood up and we danced together! Then I felt better and came to shul."

The Rebbe looked deeply into Isaac’s innocent eyes. In a serious tone, he said, "Listen to me, Isaac. Before we began, I saw that in heaven there was a terrible decree on our holy congregation, because the chassidim were saying the words in the prayer book but they weren’t really praying seriously to G-d. Of course, there are a lot of distractions and other excuses; nevertheless this terrible decree was looming.

"But you, Isaac, in your sincerity have saved the entire congregation! For you, Isaac, you talked to G‑d like He is your friend.”

O God,Let me be willing to be a true friend,To walk along Without always knowing the destinationLet me have enough faith in Your presenceTo know that letting go is not giving upSurrender is not annihilationO God,Help me move through the arid dessert ofLoneliness and fearToward Your creatures, Your creationToward Your outstretched arm of freedom,Your protecting wing of peace. ------

May we each find our way to draw near to our friends on earth and in Heaven and bring healing into our lives and the world. AMEN[1]http://www.kabbalaonline.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/2299022/jewish/Through-the-Window.htm

One Step Forward: Recently Israel, for the first time, took its place as Head of a Permanent UN Committee. Danny Danon, Israel’s envoy to the UN, will chair the UN’s Sixth Committee, which interprets legal questions in the General Assembly. Danon, appointed by Netanyahu, is opposed to a two-state solution. His election to the committee was opposed by the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) but supported by the Western European and Others regional (WEOG) group.

Second step forward: In 2018, for the first time, Israel will have the opportunity to run for a seat on the Security Council. This Council is obsessed with finding Israel as the world violator of human rights despite the multi-front wars occurring in nearby areas, and the devastation and expulsion or flight of millions of people who are now exiled and homeless.

How can that possibly be? What creates the environment that allows an international community to agree to condemn Israel over other human rights violators? Wherever hate is unleashed, regardless of the perceived target, Jews have historically been, and will for the foreseeable future continue to be, recipients of the fallout of that hate.

One step back: In Brexit, the ‘other’ worker objected to were the Poles. Yet, swastikas are being found all over England. England was the voice of defense in the EU when issues of circumcision and kashrut arose. Who will speak up now in the EU? With the current sentiment against all foreigners, despite many living there for decades and generations, who will support the Jews in the UK? Jews had been expelled 200 years prior to Christopher Marlowe writing The Jew of Malta in 1594 and Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice two years later. Will living with Jews make it more difficult to turn against them?

Second step back: Jews live without fear in America. Unless you are attending a university where hate crimes are up according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Contrary to popular belief, according to the FBI, 57% of religiously targeted hate crimes targeted Jews.

Are you on twitter? Have you seen or heard of the Jewish Cowbell? It looks like this: ((( NAME ))).

This internet meme began a few weeks ago as part of a response to a New York Times reporter, Jonathan Weisman’s tweet, regarding an essay by Robert Kagan on the emergence of fascism in the United States. Since then, I have had friends and colleagues report that they have been the victims of internet abuse and harassment. Many Jews are fighting back by encapsulating their own names in the triple parentheses announcing being a Jew is a source of pride.

How is it then, that regardless of the fight, hate always exposes anti-Semitism?

Perhaps the answer is that being a Jew isn’t simple. It is not simply a religion although it revolves around a belief in an ethical monotheistic God. It is not a simple race since it is comprised of people of many races. Indeed, Israel may be the only country to fly people from other countries and of other races onto its land. It is not a simple culture since it draws from and blends with many cultures of the world. As Jews, we have lived in nearly every corner of the world. While based on ancient texts, Judaism is ever evolving. Unless someone is keeping up, they will frequently make invalid suppositions. And,

Third step back: Scapegoating is a psychological defense mechanism that provides a sense of gratification or denial by targeting ‘others’ for justified aggression by projecting blame on them and convincing themselves (and often others) that negative occurrences are the scapegoat’s responsibility. In as much as the term scapegoat originated in the Torah, we have now completed the dance.

Nonetheless, if you saw the postings in Rabbis Against Gun Violence, they said, #DisarmHate. Our job as Jews is to keep looking to find the Divine in our fellow human beings, to view every human being b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God and to assist in ridding humanity of hate. Here’s a way to begin: attempt to go a week without using the word against, person, place or thing.

BTW: Ginger Rogers said her job was to do everything Fred Astaire did except in high heels and backwards. Sometimes, three steps back is the same dance as three steps forward.

What a delight it was this past Friday evening to gather with the Pueblo Jewish Community for dinner and to discuss/debate our views on gun issues. Using Jewish texts as our baseline, we entered into a passionate exchange of ideas around buying and selling, ownership and inheritance of guns, guns and ammunition restriction, licensing, registration, background checks, age limits, mental health and its various parameters including the emptying of the institutions decades ago and the lack of funds to assist people currently, parental responsibility, state versus federal regulations and of course, gun manufacturer responsibility. We even included an exchange on the safety controls that are both current and upcoming through R&D, the pros and cons thereof.

Who would have imagined that Biblical texts about dangerous dogs, roofs around parapets, not putting stumbling blocks before people and beating swords into plowshears could be so relevant! We even came to some consensus on a few issues.

Just as importantly, with the understanding that we gathered as community, friends, with regard for each other as individuals and respect for one another's opinions, thirty people with strong opinions spent an hour together and never once was anyone belittled, called a name, had their ideas dismissed or was cursed. Plus, the dinner was wonderful thanks to our chef and the volunteers who helped provide it.

Thanks to all who prepared and all who participated. I can't wait for our next alternative Shabbat.

“You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear,It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear,You’ve got to be carefully taught.”[1]

The days have turned cold and dark. They always do at this time of year but like many, this year feels colder and darker to me. I write this on the shortest day of the year but it isn’t just the loss of a few minutes of daytime that creates the aura. All the Christmas lights and all the Chanukah candles did not seem to break through the darkness this year. We’ve become despondent and cynical and the cold has a dampening effect on everything we do because it is not only external. We are being bombarded with messages that tell us to internalize the dark in the form of fear and to embrace the cold in the form of hate.

As Jews, we know that appealing to humanity’s dark side by dehumanizing the “other” works all too well. Dehumanizing includes not only pointing out someone’s differences but also denigrating normal human needs and reactions as if only one group or one person is affected by that quality or condition. Nor are disabilities and bodily functions disgusting unless one is three years old, perverse, a bully or immature.

The rabbis told us to light a candle rather than stumble in the dark. It was not only literal, it was also figurative. Lighting a candle kept shalom bayit, peace in a household that would otherwise become chaotic. Enlightenment kept the Jewish people at the forefront of science, knowledge, understanding, compassion, a broader vision of the world. The MiSheberach (the One Who Blesses) prayer is a result of adapting ancient blessings to current needs.

One of the most enlightened prayers Judaism has, gives praise for the proper functioning of the openings and cavities of the body. “… for if one of these would rupture or be blocked it would not be possible to stand before (Adonai)…” We recite this prayer upon exiting the bathroom and it is included in our morning service. We recognize the body as a house for the spirit, akin to the Aron Kodesh, the Holy Ark, which houses the Sifre Torah. Just like the Aron Kodesh, we need to guard our bodies and what we put therein. We would not desecrate the Aron Kodesh by ladening it with idols, nor would we dishonor it by eating, drinking, smoking, or engaging in numerous other activities nearby. So too, we should not demoralize and debase ourselves by filling our bodies and minds with hate and fear.

As the light grows each day, may the light in our lives take hold. May the stories of strength and goodness begin to proliferate and remind us that being a light unto the nations requires seeing light in the dark.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been proud that the words on Lady Liberty were written by the Jewish poetess, Emma Lazarus:

Our hearts go out to all who are in need, all who suffer, all who are persecuted. On World Prayer Day, I received the email posted below.

"In light of tragic events involving a swelling population of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers making their way from the war torn Middle East to the safe harbor of the European Union, JEWISHcolorado is responding by setting up the Syria Refugee Crisis Fund.JEWISHcolorado and the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief (JCDR) as we take part in a national effort to support refugees and migrants in Europe and the Middle East. Dollars raised from the Syrian Refugee Crisis Fund will provide immediate assistance to refugees and their families. JEWISHcolorado will absorb all administrative costs of this emergency relief effort so that 100% of collected donations directly support needs in affected areas. You can go to jewishcolorado.org/syrianrefugeefund"

As we prepare to enter our High Holidays, our hearts also go out to those effected by the falling crane in the Grand Mosque in Mecca causing the tragic death of 87 and injury of over 200 as they are getting ready for Hajj, the holy pilgrimage to Mecca.

As we settle into the month of Av, having risen from the saddest day of the Jewish year, I want to revisit the cities of refuge which was the topic of our Friday night Torah exploration July 17th. For those who were not there, six cities were established, three on each side of the Jordan River, so that someone who had unintentionally committed manslaughter would have a safe haven from revenge until their case could be adjudicated. We explored many facets of the laws presented in the few verses and we recognized the foundation of some of our laws of incarceration. With this we end the fourth book of Torah.We all have tasted bitterness, witnessed hate and viewed destruction. The loss of the 2nd Temple in ancient times, occurring on Tisha b’Av, is attributed to a society that bears witness to such enmity and does nothing to rectify the situation. As a community, a nation, we are currently guilty of such enmity, as well. It is not only that we turn a deaf ear to the victims and families of mass murder; mass murder which has become commonplace enough that the nightly news doesn’t report them all. It is that we are reduced to feelings of frustration and hostility because we do not believe we can do anything to significantly change the situation.Taking a life comes in many forms these days. It is no longer relegated to the physical aspect of manslaughter. If one is ostracized from community, if one is shamed on social media, if one is ripped of their identity through rape[1] or theft or personal damage, this loss of identity is taking life from that individual. Where is our refuge? Adonai is our refuge. When each of us acts b’tzelem Elokim, in the image of the Divine. That is our refuge. Communal actions begin with individuals; one individual reaching out to another. Individually, we are a refuge for those in need and together the community becomes a haven for those who join together.[2]If we each consider during this month how we have failed to take the opportunity to lighten a burden, to turn a hate to a dialogue, perhaps to an understanding, to bear witness for empowerment rather than detriment or destruction, we will each enter the month of Elul with a lighter heart and an easier turning toward the holidays of repentance and repair.When I turn on the news each day, I know I will find plenty about which to be depressed or angry. Before I do that, I will have a goal of taking steps toward connecting, finding ways to compromise, looking for projects with which to cooperate and taking a turn toward tikkun - repair. May the rest of your summer be happy and light.

[1](Deut 22:26) "Just as if one man jumped up and murdered his fellow, this [rape] is the same way." Why is the verse comparing murder to the violation of a betrothed maiden ... deadly force can be used to stop either, and one is obligated to be killed rather than transgress either.http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/60792/is-rape-considered-yehareig-val-yaavor 7.26.2015[2] I heard on Friday, July 17, from more than one person in attendance, that their cares fell away when they joined us. The URJ would be happy – I think it would fall under their ‘audacious hospitality’ category.

They’re at it again! Congress! Another Anti-Choice/Anti-Abortion bill! Do not be fooled. This is not pro-life. It puts in danger the life and physical, emotional and mental well being of the women and girls and the families of those women and girls in need of services. Abortions beyond 20 weeks will be allowed to a sexual assault victim only after a 48-hour waiting period following ‘counseling’ or ‘treatment’. If the assault is also incest, the victim must be under 18 years of age. (Wouldn't you love to know what makes incestuous rape ok at age 18? So would I.)

Abortion providers will be required to report the procedures to the government. (Small government at work?) Fetal abnormalities will not be taken into account for decision making. (So much for genetic testing - oh, yes, that would count as science.) Physicians can be prosecuted by the law. They have been persecuted by the Anti-Choice activists for years; they, their families and their practices.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 205 anti-choice, restrictive reproductive laws have been past by states in the past three years. That is more than in the preceding decade. Along with this, in 27 states, more than half the Unites States, women are at risk of finding supportive, adequate health care; particularly low income and young women. You see, along with taking away support for choice, closing those clinics also eliminated health care providers for annual exams, urinary and vaginal infections, cancer screening, health and sexual education, pre-natal care, birth control and more.

I am certain that our legislators would be happy to live in a house for an extended period of time with someone who has assaulted them - after they have reported it. I have no doubt that they are happy to have their medical records on impotence and premature ejaculation released to the government. But I doubt that they are willing to cross picket lines to have prostate cancer tests.

Here in Colorado, the legislature attempted to circumvent two prior state votes against personhood by passing a personhood bill in April under the guise of ‘fetal homicide’. Fortunately, it was narrowly defeated. However, they did manage to block the funding that has reduced teen birth rates by 40 percent over the past five years. This brilliant action occurred the day after the funding program received a prestigious award recognizing the achievement at an annual conference by the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association.

Do we really want to take the country back? Back to the days when we couldn’t discuss sexual issues, when we couldn’t find birth control, when having an abortion meant back alleys and the probability of not having children? If we are not vigilant, we will find ourselves back in the pre-Roe v. Wade era not only for abortion but for all women’s health issues. Don’t give away what was so hard fought and won. We’re near tilt now.

We uncover the three matzot on our seder table and announce, “Let all who are hungry, come and eat.” No sooner do we give credence to our bread of affliction than we turn our attention to those who may have even less. There are many still in affliction, who see no end to their enslavement. The matzah, which sits on our table, will be broken by us and hidden for the sake of games with our children. Our children will know it only as a bread of freedom. However, there are many who cannot offer this hope for their future generations. For what do they hunger?Starvation is a prominent problem in the world. One in nine people on the planet go to bed hungry according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Poor nutrition causes death for 3.1 million children each year under five years old. Now we may think that this all takes place in third world countries but Feeding America, a network of food banks across America whose mission is to eliminate hunger, provides service to 46.5 million people in need across the United States, including 12 million children and 7 million seniors. I was unable to obtain the statistic for veterans. Still physical hunger is but the beginning of need. There is a hunger for safety. "In a world torn by violence and pain, a world far from wholeness and peace, give us the courage to say ...” (Mishkan Tefilah pg 157) you will be safe from my hand. Are we willing to stand for peace: in our homes, in our schools, in our lands, both America and Israel? We all know too well that America has a problem with gun violence, domestic violence and racial divide. War looms large in both countries and will likely not dissipate as ISIL spreads across the Arab lands and beyond with media influence. There is a hunger for security. Thirty five million human beings were transported around the world in slave trade according to the 2015 Global Human Trafficking Conference. Yes, slavery still exists. Even in America, human trafficking is a big commodity. Then more deeply, there is the hunger for acceptance. The orange introduced to the seder plate in the 1980s by Susanna Heschel, daughter of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, represents the LGBTQ community who hunger for the right to love and to be accepted as they are. Perhaps we need to find a proper representation for the misattributed meaning of the orange, the struggle for women to be able to fulfill their potential; not part of the misattribution, but I would include, and manage their own bodies. Acceptance is a hunger for people whether they are different because of race, religion, sexual preference, disabilities, poverty or just a bit quirky. We all need to be accepted but we turn aside from the 'other' forgetting that 'others' need acceptance. Let all who are hungry come and eat. This year, as we begin our telling of the Passover story, let us not pass over those who are still hungry for their freedom. They are still trapped in Mitzrayim, in Egypt, in that narrow space. Ah, but we'll leave that to explore for another time.Wishing you and yours a Hag Pesach SamayachRabbi Becker

We are now in the season of dedication. Dedication is the translation of Chanukah. Beyond the story of oil lasting for eight days, or of a rebellion against the Syrian-Greeks, Chanukah is a story of faith giving people strength to overcome their fear. Fear rides highest in times of darkness. Chanukah falls in the darkest part of the year, at the winter solstice. Into that dark, Chanukah brings a little light, a little faith. There is no doubt that this year the darkness is thick. Thick enough to touch - like the darkness of the ninth plague upon Egypt. It is a darkness not only of a night sky, but also of belief: belief in a way of life that once held hope for a brighter tomorrow, belief in ourselves to make a difference in the world and leave it a better place, belief in one another. Are we looking in the wrong places? Are we asking the wrong questions? As a people, we come together so strongly when we are in crisis. How can we gather that energy and concern and keep it going regardless of our favored immediate crisis? We can realize that whether or not it is our particular passion, there are always crises to address. That alone should pull us together. For as surely as if you ignore a function of your body it will affect your entire well-being, so too, it is with a society. This does not mean we need to live in a state of abject tension and general dismay. Rather, it means we need to acknowledge that everyone has difficulties and everywhere there are problems to overcome. If we can accept that, and treat each other with kindness and compassion at all times, as if there were a national crisis, then the world, then our worlds, our lives, would become more aligned with what we claim we stand for, tikkun olam, healing the world. There is a gift in this for us. A lovely Chanukah gift that we don’t have to buy at the store and that no one will tell you about on the TV. In fact, it will hamper the efforts of those who sell us on need and greed. For the gift is that we become more grateful for what we have. Being grateful does not mean putting on rose-colored glasses, but it does give us an opportunity to see balance in the world. Being grateful allows us to open our hearts to what we have so that what we lack doesn’t leave us so fearful. Being grateful allows us to extend ourselves to others because we need not be envious that someone has something more, we can understand that it might just be different. Being grateful allows us to be followers of Yehudah, Judah, a name meaning “I am grateful”. This Chanukah, may the world be filled with gratitude for an ever evolving creation of which we are a part. May our lives be dedicated to bringing light and enlightenment into the world. May your homes be filled with joy and with love. Wishing you each a Happy Chanukah and Wonderful New Year.Rabbi Becker

VOTE NO on 67 Some of you know that prior to my clergy work I was a medical social worker. My primary field was reproductive health. Amendment 67 is an even worse ...rendition of the two Coloradans have been smart enough to defeat. The wording of Amendment 67 is so broad and far-reaching that it would make ALL abortion a crime, including in cases of RAPE , INCEST and when a MOTHER'S health is AT RISK. This includes ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages that need assistance to save the mother's life. It would make pregnant women and their doctors subject to criminal investigation, including when a woman has a miscarriage. It would even restrict access to common forms of birth control! Amendment 67 goes way too far. Please keep reproductive health care for women in the hands, hearts and heads of the patients and their medical care givers. Vote NO on 67.

Sorry for the delay in posting. I was having trouble with my website.ROSH HASHANAH 2014How Louis B. Brandeis Joined the Harvard Law Honor Society (unknown origin – story from my email archives)

Louis B. Brandeis, the first Jew on the Supreme Court, was a very bright law student at Harvard University.In those days - and possibly now, too -there existed a very exclusive honor society at Harvard. Membership was by invitation only. There was one problem: no Jew had ever been a member of that honor society.

Brandeis was so brilliant that after his freshman year at Harvard Law, it was very obvious that he should be invited to join. But he was a Jew! So the leaders of the Honor Society decided to let the matter slide.Came the end of the sophomore year, the brilliant Brandeis was again over­looked for membership. This time the members of the Honor Society decided upon a plan.Every day, for lunch, Brandeis had uninvited company. Someone from the Society would join him at the table. Day after day the conversation, with some variations, went something like this: "Brandeis, you are brilliant. There has never been a brighter student at Harvard Law School. You are so brilliant that you will some day probably end up on the Supreme Court. But you are Jewish. What chance do you have? Why don't you convert? Convert to Christianity, and then all problems will be solved. You'll join us in the Honor Society. Top legal fins will welcome you. And really, some day you may even sit on the Supreme Court," Every day during lunch Brandeis listened - just listened. At the beginning of his senior year at Harvard Law, the leaders of the Honor Society could not hold out any longer. They had to invite him to membership -the first Jew. But they had hopes that maybe the luncheon talks had taken effect, for Brandeis immediately accepted the coveted invitation.The evening of his official induction arrived, and Brandeis was asked to speak for a few minutes. This is what happened: He walked to the lectern, slowly looked around the room with his piercing eyes, and said, “I am sorry I was born a Jew!"Such applause, such screaming, such joy greeted that statement. "Finally, finally, we made a dent,” the Society members said to each other. "He's going to convert." Such back slapping! Such glee!When the room was quiet, Brandeis again said, “I am sorry I was born a Jew. But only because I wish I had had the privilege of choosing Judaism on my own!"Indeed, in my opinion, Brandeis, a descendent of Bohemian Jews who emigrated to American after the European revolution in 1848, did choose Judaism on his own, every day he was there and throughout his life thereafter in his fight for labor laws, “Right’s to Privacy”, against monopolies, for education, justice and Judaism. He wrote, “The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.” "Behind every argument is someone's ignorance."I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that this summer has been an intense one. A summer filled with zeal, argument and often a lack of understanding. Around the world there has been a rise in conflict, malice, xenophobia, slander, corruption, persecution, provocation, betrayal, in other words, when we say the Vidui, the prayers of confession, I think as a world community, as a country, as a people, as individuals, we can rightfully beat our chests and say, Sahrnoo mee-meetz-voe-teh-cha, we have turned from your commandments. If we have strayed so far, how do we dare ask for mercy rather than justice to be meted out. Were the angels were correct when they suggested that it was folly to make human beings? Are we really doomed before In the Decalogue as it appears in the book of Exodus, it reads in reference to idol worship:4 thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; 5 and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments. {S}Mercy to the thousandth generation that love Me and keep My commandments. Then in Talmud, Rosh Hashanah, (17b), the section appropriate for our purposes, it talks about the sin of the Molten, generally know as the Golden Calf, and how afterward, Moses felt there would be no way for the Israelites to atone for the sin and be redeemed. So Moses asks God to reveal the qualities of Divine mercy to him. In a prophetic visions, God then appears to Moses as a communal prayer leader wrapped in a tallit and recites the thirteen attributes of Divine Mercy. God tells Moses that, "Whenever Israel sins, let them recite this [the Thirteen Attributes] in its proper order and I will forgive them."What are the thirteen attributes? Based on Exodus 34: "The Lord! The Lord! God, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to anger and Abundant in Kindness and Truth, Preserver of kindness for thousands of generations, Forgiver of iniquity, willful sin, and error, and Who Cleanses (but does not cleanse completely, recalling the iniquity of parents upon children and grandchildren, to the third and fourth generations)" (EX. 34:6-7).You’ll notice it echoes the Decalogue both in the positive and negative aspects.When we recite the attributes, we leave off the negative. I see two reasons for this. The first is the negative aspect is a natural process and there isn’t much that can be done to stop it. We have only to look at the Bernie Madoff situation to see an example. Already all of his sons have died, which automatically affects his grandchildren, and his decimation of so many organizations and households will not be forgotten in one or two generation. It will easily be felt into the fourth and perhaps even beyond before his family can be redeemed in many eyes. Second, it is the aspects of mercy upon which we are focused and if mercy is accorded unto the thousandth generation, that far outweighs a misdeed visited into the fourth.So let’s take a few moments to look at these attributes.As listed by Ronald L. Eisenberg in The JPS Guide to Jewish Tradition and posted in My Jewish Learning, “The 13 Attributes of Mercy, according to the generally accepted opinions of Rabbenu Tam and Abudraham, are as follows:

- The Lord! (Adonai)--God is merciful before a person sins! Even though aware that future evil lies dormant within him. - The Lord! (Adonai)--God is merciful after the sinner has gone astray.

- God (El)--a name that denotes power as ruler over nature and humankind, indicating that God's mercy sometimes surpasses even the degree indicated by this name. - Compassionate (rahum)--God is filled with loving sympathy for human frailty does not put people into situations of extreme temptation, and eases the punishment of the guilty. - Gracious (v'hanun)--God shows mercy even to those who do not deserve it consoling the afflicted and raising up the oppressed.

- Slow to anger (ereh apayim)--God gives the sinner ample time to reflect, improve, and repent. - Abundant in Kindness (v'rav hesed)--God is kind toward those who lack personal merits, providing more gifts and blessings than they deserve; if one's personal behavior is evenly balanced between virtue and sin, God tips the scales of justice toward the good. - Truth (v'emet)--God never reneges on His word to reward those who serve Him. - Preserver of kindness for thousands of generations (notzeir hesed la-alafim)--God remembers the deeds of the righteous for the benefit of their less virtuous generations of offspring (thus we constantly invoke the merit of the Patriarchs). - Forgiver of iniquity (nosei avon)--God forgives intentional sin resulting from an evil disposition, as long as the sinner repents. - Forgiver of willful sin (pesha)--God allows even those who commit a sin with the malicious intent of rebelling against and angering Him the opportunity to repent. - Forgiver of error (v'hata'ah)--God forgives a sin committed out of carelessness, thoughtlessness, or apathy. - Who cleanses (v'nakeh)--God is merciful, gracious, and forgiving, wiping away the sins of those who truly repent; however, if one does not repent, God does not cleanse.In a traditional service, these attributes are recited several times during the Kol Nidre and Neilah services. They are preceded by a paragraph which begins:Ayl Melech Yoshayv Ahl Keesay Rachameem- God, Ruler who is sitting on the seat of mercyand followed by a request for forgiveness even as Moses asked for forgiveness for the Israelites. So let’s examine our hearts as well as our deeds and see if we can find some of the qualities we just delineated. You see, the idea isn’t just to emulate Moses, no - the idea is to bring Divinity into the world. If you stand during the Amshamnu and beat your breast and it is all mechanical, it is also all meaningless.The physical expression is a mere reminder of what you are to be experiencing. Don’t fly through all the words. If one of them resonates with you, stop, stay with it, let it get into your kishkas, your guts and your soul. We’ll still be here when you’re ready to rejoin us. By the same token, I’m going to ask, for those who are brave, if you’ve never worn a tallit, or never wrapped yourself in one, and I mean, fully enclosed so that it is you and your soul conversing with what you call Divine, Otherly, Off-world, the Void, The Force, I call it Adonai, see if you are up to the challenge. Before we begin the Torah service, take a moment. Embrace the Shechina and be reminded that we can not merely recite words, we must clothe ourselves in these attributes to bring mercy, forgiveness and repair to ourselves and to this world. Like Louis Brandeis, everyday, if we do this, we are choosing to be a Jew.

TEKIAH! Wake Up! As the month of Elul ends and we head into the month of Tishrei, we enter with heightened awareness of how we look at the world and ourselves in it - or we should. The preparations for the High Holidays, gives us an opportunity to make the holidays a more meaningful experience. A facebook friend recently posted that he awoke to the sound an “intruder trying to enter a bedroom window!!!”It turned out to be a raccoon that he chased away repeatedly for 30 minutes by periodically pounding on the window as it left and returned, left and returned. I wrote, “Happy to hear it was only a raccoon.” I saw him a week later. He told me that of the many responses he had received, mine was the only one with that perspective. OK, he said, “It takes a rabbi’s perspective.” But the truth is, it doesn’t. What it takes is a change of perspective. We have become so accustomed to looking at everything in the negative: politics, news, reports from authority figures, even weather. It takes practice to see the positives in life, but there is a positive side to each negative. That’s how the world was made. Two sides to the coin, three if you count the edge. That gives us more than one way to look at every situation. Opening ourselves up to new perspectives allows us to enter the High Holidays more prepared. ‘Where I have done well and where I have gone astray’, will not be as daunting if you have been contemplating it over time. The wrestling of the soul becomes a familiar exercise and with it life appears different. Like the raccoon that came and went, you may feel that sometimes you are winning the wrestling match and sometimes it has you flat on your back, but the struggle is building strength for the inner spirit. Like all exercise, it takes time. That’s why each year we have the ten days of Yamim Noraim, (the Days of Awe), the month of Elul, and it is said that the Gates of Repentence are never closed. Keep the exercise going all year. I wish you and yours L’Shana Tovah U’metuka, a very sweet and healthy New Year.